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Chances Dim for a Public Plan

White House Opens Door to Compromise on Government Role in Health Overhaul

By

Elizabeth Williamson and

August Cole

Updated Aug. 17, 2009 12:01 a.m. ET

The Obama administration gave its strongest signal yet that it would be willing to compromise on plans to expand the government's direct role in health-insurance coverage as it fights a growing crescendo of opposition to its effort to overhaul health care.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that a new, government-run health-insurance program wasn't the "essential element" of any overhaul plan.

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Obama's administration sends signals that a health care overhaul may not include a government-run insurance option that critics say would put private insurance companies out of business. Video courtesy of Fox News.